UPDATED: Man arrested, victim identified in Danville shooting

Vermilion County sheriff's department investigators near the scene of a shooting on East 13th Street in Danville Wednesday November 14, 2012.

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UPDATED 9:57 p.m. Wednesday

DANVILLE — A manhunt for a murder suspect ended peacefully Wednesday night when Vermilion County sheriff's deputies arrested a 51-year-old Danville-area man at a residence on Perrysville Road south of Danville, according to Vermilion County Sheriff Pat Hartshorn.

The man was arrested around 6:30 p.m. in connection with the fatal shooting of Donnie Leroy Davis, 68, earlier in the afternoon at 647 E. 13th St. south of Danville. Hartshorn said the two men are related but didn't disclose how.

Authorities are not releasing the name of the suspect, but The News-Gazette has learned that the suspect's name is Billy Richardson.

Mr. Davis died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to Vermilion County Coroner Peggy Johnson. She added an autopsy has been scheduled for Thursday.

Richardson had been in a dispute with Mr. Davis over the property on East 13th Street where Richardson had been living, according to the sheriff. The property is at the far east end of East 13th Street, which is a dead-end road east of Greenwood Cemetery Road in a rural area south of Danville and Interstate 74 and east of Tilton.

Hartshorn said Richardson was living in the house, and Mr. Davis had obtained possession of the property through the courts and was going to the property late Wednesday afternoon to take possession.

As Mr. Davis approached the property, Hartshorn said, Richardson came out of the house, met him in the street and shot him with a handgun. Richardson then ran east into a wooded area along the Vermilion River, and emergency personnel rushed Mr. Davis to Presence United Samaritan Medical Center in Danville, where he later died, according to Hartshorn.

After an extensive search of the area, Hartshorn said, Richardson was arrested without incident at a residence on Perrysville Road, which is directly east of the scene of the crime and the wooded area where he fled along the river. Hartshorn said the Perrysville residence had no connection to Richardson and no connection to the crime. Hartshorn said Richardson didn't know the people there. He said no one else was injured during the crime, the manhunt or the arrest.

Pamela Green, who lives in the 600 block of East 13th Street, was home late Wednesday afternoon and heard gunshots. She said she ran outside, looked down the street and saw Mr. Davis lying on the ground. She said his sons, who also live along East 13th Street, were trying to help him.

Green said she and other neighbors were aware that Richardson was supposed to be out of the property by 4 p.m. Wednesday. She said they suspected that there could be trouble, "but not that kind of trouble."

Have you heard anything new about this? This is actually my family and believe it or not it happened on their property and are concerned. The police are not letting them leave. Please any information would be great.